by S. D. Grimm
New text.
My heart pounded as I checked. It was from Wyatt: Like I said. I thought you remembered my report on Andromeda.
Really? I fell back against my pillow. He couldn’t expect me to buy that, could he?
“Ava?” Jean’s knuckle rapped on my door a couple of times. “You awake, sweetie? I made breakfast.”
I smelled pancakes. Oh yeah, I had school today. I pulled the pillow over my face. “I’m awake.” Muffled words sounded out. Then I sat up fast; Wyatt Wilcox was sure to be at school, and he might be able to hide behind a text, but if I got him talking, I’d know if he was hiding something. And I’d get it out of him.
After all, I’d seen the cuts on his back before they’d disappeared.
He was like me. He had to be.
I didn’t really want to go through this alone.
…
“Thanks for picking me up.” I closed the door of Yuki’s Volvo and leaned back against the seat, expelling a huge breath.
Sunlight shone through the car window, giving her dark hair a pretty bronze glow as she turned to face me.
She touched my shoulder and the look of concern on her face eased the butterflies in my stomach. “I can’t believe you didn’t call me to tell me about Danny. I would have come over. You know that, right?”
I knew.
I glanced her way, too lazy to lift my head from the back of the car seat. “It was a crazy night.” And I didn’t need to explain to my best friend how I’d miraculously healed.
Her eyebrows pulled together and she shook her head like a comforting mother. She worried about me too much. “I just want you to know that you can count on me.” She checked her rearview mirror as she backed out of the driveway. “You shouldn’t have to be alone for something like that.”
“I—I wasn’t alone.” I drew out that last word with a slight wince.
Her eyes widened and her mouth opened. “Ava Elderson, what are you hiding from me?”
“Do you know Wyatt Wilcox?”
Her gaze latched on to me for a long second. “Yes! That cutie I sat next to in chemistry my whole freshman year? Are you dating him? How could you not tell me? He wouldn’t even give me a second glance. Believe me, I tried to get his attention.” She shook her head and her dark waves cascaded over her shoulders then she snickered.
Truth was, Yuki was gorgeous, so that kind of surprised me.
“Whoa.” I laughed through the word. “Calm down. I didn’t know you were interested.”
She shrugged. “I’m not now.”
“Okay. Good.” I slapped my hands over my mouth. Had I actually said that? What was wrong with me?
“How long has this been going on?” Her lips twisted into a scowl and she gripped the steering wheel tighter, speed increasing. “I can handle this kind of stuff, you know.”
“Yuki, I know you can handle it. I’m not dating him, okay.” My face got really hot. “Don’t worry. You will be the first person I talk to if I decide to date someone.”
She glanced over at me, skepticism melting into a smirk. “I better be.”
“You will be.” I laughed.
She stared out the window again, speed back to normal, and chewed the inside of her lip. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed you’d—”
My turn to comfort her. “No worries. I can’t imagine what it must be like to always think people are keeping things from you because…” Neither of us needed me to say why. “If anyone knows how strong you are, it’s me.”
That brightened her face. Her parents might attempt to soften the blow with every piece of news they gave her, but all it did was work her up even more. I couldn’t blame her; no one wanted to be treated like an invalid. All that did was stress her out even more. And that certainly wasn’t good for her heart condition.
“Thanks, Ava.” She scrunched up her nose. “I know you’re not like that. I’m sorry I assumed.”
“Forgiven.”
“By the way, when did you get the dark purple?” She touched my hair.
“Do you like it?” Mrs. Fields had let me get the purple streaks. They clashed with my light blonde hair so well.
“I love it. It’s so you. “She pulled into the school parking lot, parked, and sighed as she looked out the windshield. “Here’s to surviving another year.”
I laughed. But it felt good—being at the same school two years in a row. The normal first-day-of-school jitters I got had been replaced by a smattering of butterflies. We got out of the car and walked together toward the building. Yuki nudged me with her shoulder. “Hey, speak of the cutie.”
I followed her gaze. Wyatt. He walked into the building ahead of us. I started walking faster.
“Whoa.” She laughed, catching up with me. “Looks like you have more to spill than I first expected.”
She had no idea.
I held up my hand to shield my eyes from the sun. I’d lost track of Wyatt. At least I knew approximately where he’d be all day. The building blocked the sun finally, and I scanned the students littering the steps. No sign of him.
Yuki bumped into me as if someone had pushed her hard. She let out a “Hey!”
And I turned to stop her from pummeling the culprit, half expecting her to have her fists ready in a fighter’s stance; instead, she was just staring.
“I’m sorry.” A guy with perfectly messy blond hair steadied Yuki and scooped up her dropped schedule. Then he straightened his leather jacket and nodded in a crooked smile, and all the air rushed out of my lungs. His gray-green eyes locked onto Yuki, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away.
I knew that face.
Only I didn’t.
Those fake memories that played in my skull—they knew this face. He had the same mole on the left side of his jawbone, the same gray-green eyes as me. It was him. In the memory, my voice had called him Cade.
Cade.
The pancakes I’d had for breakfast turned to stone in my stomach. This was not possible.
He walked away, right into the building, leaving Yuki and me standing there frozen to the sidewalk.
She turned to me and practically squealed. “Who was that?”
I shook my head, dazed. “I—I don’t know.” Which was true, technically. After all, there was no way his name was actually Cade.
“That smile.” Yuki walked forward.
In my memory, he wasn’t smiling. He was staring up at me, blood gushing out of his stomach while I cried. Something in my chest clutched, and I hugged my arms around my middle.
“Ava? You coming?”
I shook the thoughts clear and followed Yuki inside. My class and hers were on opposite sides of the universe basically, so I managed the long walk to the science lab alone.
I stepped into the classroom just as the bell rang. The scent of formaldehyde in the morning was enough to wake me up. No one should be allowed to have biology this close to breakfast.
Mr. Cummins greeted me in monotone. “Miss Elderson, there’s an empty seat next to Mr. Wilcox.”
Wilcox? I whirled around in time to see Wyatt slowly duck his head. Whoa. Wait. Was he avoiding me now? All because of that stupid text? How could he go from Mr. I’ll-drop-anything-for-you to avoiding me? A speck of heat in the center of my chest fanned.
Figured.
A little more than miffed, I turned back to Mr. Cummins to ask for a different partner, when I noticed the guy who looked like strange-memory Cade in the doorway. He walked in and stood beside me.
I stared at him.
After noticing my mouth was just hanging open and my eyes were glued to him, I closed it and gave him my best smile. His smile turned crooked and sideways and he nodded once. Was he checking me out? I mentally slapped him. His face scrunched up in a wince.
Weird. “Are you okay?” I whispered.
He nodded, the skin around his left eye still crinkled.
“Too much to drink last night?”
He laughed, genuine. “Something like that.”
> I faced Cummins and pointed over my shoulder at Cade—or whatever his real name was. “I’ll sit with him. Hospitality to new students and all.”
“You’re not part of the hospitality committee.” Mr. Cummins looked down at me over the rim of his glasses.
They actually had a committee?
“It’s a nice gesture.” Cade looked flattered, but also like he expected any girl to flatter him. Gag me.
Why was everyone from those strange memories showing up in my biology class? A shiver skittered over my skin. Nothing about this was normal.
“Your seat has been assigned, Ms. Elderson.” Mr. Cummins sounded annoyed, which was a lot of emotion for him.
“That’s Mr. Elderson.” Cade placed his student slip on Cummins’s desk and nodded like Cummins was a little slow to the punch.
Not a great idea. Seriously, cocky much? Wait. Did he say Mr. Elderson? My heart took off like Yuki’s car.
“Isn’t that something? Two Eldersons.” Cummins’s mouth curved in what was supposed to be a smile, but it hadn’t touched any other part of his face. Then he looked pointedly at me as though my being at his desk was as welcome as a tarantula at an exterminator convention. “Doesn’t change your seat assignment.”
“Elderson?” Cade faced me and leaned his elbow on Cummins’s desk. He seemed intrigued. “That’s your last name, too?”
My heart caught in my chest and I nearly choked on it.
“Do you speak English?” Cade’s question registered.
So did the fact that I was still standing at Cummins’s desk, gaping at Cade.
“It’s not like it’s the world’s least common name.” I rolled my eyes and turned my back on him. Then winced. Why did I do that? Cade could have answers, and I’d really started off on the wrong note. I slid into the desk next to Wyatt, who was avoiding me now. I crossed my arms and slid low in my seat.
He looked down at his book. Glasses on this morning. Yuki was right, though. Did he have to be so cute?
My blood started heating. “I didn’t expect matching hoodies, but you’re being awfully cold this morning.”
Now I had his full attention. “What?”
“Hiding when he told me to sit with you?”
He shook his head and sat up straight. “What? No. I was—” He stopped and squared his shoulders as Cade walked up to the empty desk across the aisle.
He shot Wyatt a wide smile. Then he sat down and looked at me. “Looks like I’ll be sitting next to you anyway, Ms. Elderson.”
“It’s Ava.”
He nodded. Almost as if he expected me to say that. “I’m Cade.”
My heartbeat revved and every inch of my skin tingled. Of course that was his real name. Could he possibly be someone related to me? Like a twin separated at birth or something. We both had light hair and gray-green eyes. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to talk to him. “Nice to meet you, Cade.” My voice sounded so strange to my ears. Rehearsed and foreign.
“Likewise.” His gaze wandered to Wyatt and the smile turned smug. “You have a name?”
He didn’t say anything, so I decided to squelch the rising awkwardness. “This is Wyatt.”
Wyatt nodded a hello then turned back to his book.
“Friendly guy.” Cade half laughed. Then he winced again and pressed his left hand against the side of his head.
I leaned toward him. “Are you okay?”
“He needs licorice.” Wyatt mumbled.
I glanced over at him. “Are you a headache expert?”
“Just trust me.”
No thanks.
Lisa Welch slid into the seat beside Cade and stole his attention in only the way a leggy blonde with a Southern summer tan can.
I rolled my eyes and settled in my chair beside Wyatt.
He leaned closer to me, and he smelled amazing. “I wasn’t avoiding you.”
My eyebrows rose and I waited for an explanation. Because it would have to be a good one. Unfortunately, Cummins stopped his classroom pacing in front of our desks and stood staring at us. We both straightened, and I folded my hands over my biology book. As soon as he turned his back and walked away, Wyatt looked at me as if he were trying to see into my thoughts. Like he thought something might have changed.
He wiped his hand over his face. “I wasn’t avoiding you. I promise.”
The way he said it, with such sincerity, had me staring at him like he was a little weird, which I felt bad for and amended my expression.
He sort of laughed. “Look, I just don’t really know you, and I wasn’t sure how you would react to me here—at school.”
I expelled a deep breath. This I could understand. “You thought I’d treat you differently with others around?”
“I wasn’t sure. It’s not like we were friends last year. And this morning, when I waved at you, you turned around, so…”
My mouth fell open. “I-I didn’t see you. I was actually looking for you.” Now I felt bad.
“You were?”
“Yeah.” I offered a smile. “And I’m sorry I didn’t remember your report on Andromeda.”
“Do you now?” He tilted his head ever so slightly and my breathing quickened, because for a moment I wasn’t exactly sure he was talking about the report.
“Remember?” I ventured tentatively.
He nodded, barely perceptible.
“Did it have to do with the history of bullet extraction?”
The widening of his eyes told me he knew more than he’d said. He had the memories, too. My mouth seemed dry and my breathing quickened. I opened my palm and showed him my empty hand. “I cut my hand last night.”
He glanced at my palm. No cut. No scar. No trace of wound. But confusion didn’t overcome his features. He looked back up at me.
Nothing in his intense gaze changed. But he didn’t offer any words. He just waited for me to continue. Almost as if he could lure words out of me.
“You got hurt at the crash site. Didn’t you? Like I did.” I kept my voice low. “You can tell me. Did something happen to you last night?”
Slowly, his eyes narrowed. “At the crash site?” He seemed tentative. Like I was a poisonous snake flicking the air with my tongue and he didn’t want me to catch the scent. “I told you I was fine. Are you sure you’re okay?”
And my heart sank. I buried my hand under my desk and my face heated. Maybe I was the only crazy one.
“Sometimes when we see something tragic like that our minds—”
“You don’t need to tell me about what the mind does when we witness tragedy, Wyatt.” I snapped and added a glare.
He leaned back, blinking.
Flushed, I looked away to calm down and caught Cade staring at me, and something about it seemed oddly protective. “He bothering you? Because I can have a talk with him.”
The patronizing glance he sent to Wyatt made my stomach tighten. Half because I wanted to shoot another wedge between Wyatt and me, half because I knew I shouldn’t have snapped at him. And why did I want to put a wedge between us? He was only trying to help.
“I can take care of myself.”
Cade held up his hands in surrender. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that I doubted your ability. I just thought our awkward friend here might need help taking social cues.”
I looked at Wyatt. He didn’t say a thing. Just leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
Cade didn’t exactly know when to quit. He leaned over his desk so Wyatt could see him. “She’s not into you. Sorry, man.”
The ghost of a smirk lifted the corner of Wyatt’s mouth. “Relationship advice from you? That’s rich.” He faced Cade now. “I saw your podcast. I’m guessing you got kicked out of your last school.”
Cade’s eyes widened for a millisecond. He regarded Wyatt for three heartbeats before his charming smile returned. “So you’ve heard of me?” He turned to Lisa. “Have you?”
“No.” Her smile said she wished she had.
I shook my head and glanced
back at Wyatt and whispered, “What a jerk.”
“You have no idea.”
A shard of ice seemed to form in my gut. “Do you know him?”
He shook his head. “I know his type, Ava.”
“You’re judging now?”
He sighed. Leaned closer to me. “Let’s just say he’s definitely not your type.”
“Eww. No. I wasn’t…that part I can agree with.” I half laughed. “But how would you know what my type is?”
His blue eyes latched on to me again and seemed to look into me. I squirmed and he dropped his gaze. “I guess I wouldn’t.”
And just like that, I’d closed conversation for the rest of class. Every time I looked at Cade, he was talking to Lisa. And she couldn’t stop laughing at whatever he said. He clearly enjoyed it, too. I shook my head. Still, I couldn’t help but see both Wyatt and Cade bloody in front of me. And it all felt so real.
If I wanted answers, I was going to have to do something I rarely did, get close to another person. A heaviness filled my stomach and I slumped forward. Making friends was not my strength. But nothing said I’d have to stay friends with them. After all, I excelled at pushing people away.
After class, Cade seemed to be in a hurry. Wyatt headed straight to talk to Cummins, so I raced to catch up to Cade. I found him hunched over, leaning against the wall just outside the classroom. “Cade? Are you okay?”
He stood up and rested his head against the wall. “I wish I were hungover.”
I chuckled, then thought maybe I shouldn’t have because he seemed to be in pain. “I, um. I’m…have you ever met another Elderson?”
“Sure. My brother.”
“Your… You have a brother?”
He cocked his head sideways and I realized I sounded crazy. “He’s a senior.”
I clutched my books close to my chest and stepped back from him.
Cade tore his eyes from me and nodded with that charming smile as Holly Eaves walked by. I rolled my eyes. How could I be so stupid? I left him and his annoying smile. Even if Cade was a part of what was happening to me, he didn’t seem to be aware. And he was nothing but a jerk. Exactly the type of guy I stayed away from.
“Ava.” Cade called after me, but I kept walking. Maybe the best way out of this was to pretend it didn’t exist. Neither of the guys from my strange memories seemed to want to help me. Then again, maybe I was going crazy.